Transcripts For CSPAN U.S. House Of Representatives U.S. Hou

Eastern on cspan. Find it also at cspan. Org. Well leave now. The house is coming back in for several votes. [captions Copyright National cable satellite corp. 2018] [captioning performed by the national captioning institute, which is responsible for its caption content and accuracy. Visit ncicap. Org] the vote on the passage of h. R. 1153 on which the yeas and nays are ordered. The clerk will report the title of the bill. The clerk Union Calendar number 387, h. R. 1153, a bill to amend the truth in lending act to improve upon the definitions and fees in points connection with a mortgage transaction. The speaker pro tempore the question is on passage of the bill. Members will record their votes by electronic device. This is a 15minute vote. Connection [captioning made possible by the national captioning institute, inc. , in cooperation with the United States house of representatives. Any use of the closedcaptioned coverage of the house proceedings for political or commercial purposes is expressly prohibited by the u. S. House of representatives. ]. The speaker pro tempore on this vote the yeas are 280. The nays are 131. The bill is passed, without objection the motion to reconsider is laid upon the table. Pursuant to clause 8 of rule 20, the Unfinished Business is the question on agreeing to the speakers approval of the journal. Which the chair will put de novo. The question is on agreeing to the speakers approval of the journal. So many as are in favor say aye. Those opposed, no. In the opinion of the chair, the ayes have it. Own that qui the yeas and nays. On that i request the yeas and nays. The speaker pro tempore the yeas and nays are requested. Those favoring a vote by the yeas and nays will rise. A sufficient number having arisen, the yeas and nays are ordered. Members will record their votes by electronic device. This is a fiveminute vote. [captioning made possible by the national captioning institute, inc. , in cooperation with the United States house of representatives. Any use of the closedcaptioned coverage of the house proceedings for political or commercial purposes is expressly prohibited by the u. S. House of representatives. ] the speaker pro tempore on this vote the yeas are 208. The nays are 194. Two voting present. The journal stands approved. The speaker pro tempore the house will come to order. Members will clear the aisles, remove their conversations from the floor. The speaker pro tempore the house will come to order. Members will clear the aisles and remove their conversations from the floor. The speaker pro tempore the house will come to order. Members will clear the aisles and remove their conversations from the floor. The speaker pro tempore the ouse will come to order. For what purpose does the gentleman from texas, mr. Hensarling, seek recognition . Mr. Hensarling mr. Speaker, pursuant to House Resolution 725, i call up h. R. 4771 and ask for its immediate consideration in the house. The speaker pro tempore the clerk will report the title of the bill. The clerk Union Calendar number 408. H. R. 4771, a bill to raise the consolidated assets threshold under the Small Bank Holding Company policy statement, and or other purposes. The speaker pro tempore the house will come to order. Members will clear the aisles and remove their conversations rom the floor. Pursuant to House Resolution 725, the amendment in the nature of a substitute consisting of the text of rules Committee Print 11557 is adopted, and the bill, as amended, is considered as read. The gentleman from texas, mr. Hensarling, and the gentlewoman from california, ms. Waters, each will control 30 minutes. The chair recognizes the gentleman from texas, mr. Hensarling. Hens mr. Hensarling mr. Speaker, i ask unanimous consent that all members may have five legislative days to revise and extend their remarks and submit extraneous materials on the bill under consideration. The speaker pro tempore without objection, so ordered. Mr. Hensarling mr. Speaker, the house is not in order. The speaker pro tempore the gentleman is correct. The house is not in order. The house will come to order. Members will remove themselves from the aisles and remove their conversations from the floor. The gentleman is recognized. Mr. Hensarling mr. Speaker, i yield myself such time as i may consume. The speaker pro tempore the gentleman is recognized. Hens mr. Speaker, mr. Hensarling mr. Speaker, i rise in strong support of h. R. 4771, the Small Bank Holding Company relief act of 2018. It is a bipartisan bill which passed our committee with a strong bipartisan vote of 4114. Mr. Speaker, this exact same provision came out of the Senate Banking committee, also, with a very strong bipartisan vote of 167. First, i want to thank the gentlelady from utah, ms. Love, who is a very mrs. Love, who is a very hardworking member of the Financial Services committee. I want to thank her for introducing this legislation and helping lead our congressional efforts to provide regulate relief to our Nations Community banks. She is a great asset to our committee and widely respected. The Federal Reserve Small Bank Holding Company policy statement is a regulation that allows Certain Bank Holding Companies that have less than 1 billion in assets to hold more debt at the Holding Company level than would otherwise be permitted by current Capital Requirements. They do this as long as they meet a number of ongoing requirements and restrictions. H. R. 4771 would raise that threshold for qualifying institutions from 1 billion to 3 billion, thus allowing more Community Banks to raise more capital by the issuance of debt. By increasing this threshold, r. 4771 provides muchneeded relief for Bank Holding Companies from overly burdensome capital and leverage requirements that were truly intended, mr. Speaker, for the largest and most complex Global Financial institutions. It is a recurring problem, mr. Speaker, again, over and over, the regulate burden on our Community Financial institutions are causing us to lose one approximately every other day in america. These are rules that have made it, again, more difficult for small banks to raise capital. And while the Bank Holding Companies will no longer have to abide by these rules under this bill, again, there are plenty, plenty of safeguards that continue to be in place to protect the safety and soundness of the institution and its customers, but these institutions present no, no threat to the safety and soundness of our financial system. First and foremost, the Federal Reserve retains the right to impose capital standards on a Holding Company if they determine if it is needed. In other words, this is a may bill and not a shall bill. The 3 billion threshold remains totally within the discretion of the Federal Reserve. It is permissive. Next, capital rules and regulations will continue to apply to subsidiary banks of the Holding Company level. Again, let me repeat, the capital rules and regulations continue to apply to subsidiary banks. All institutions must continue to meet certain qualitative requirements, including those pertaining to nonbanking activities, off Balance Sheet activities, and publicly registered debt and equity. These requirements ensure the higher leverage the policy statement allows does not pose ny undue burden on any institutions. So the Small Bank Holding Company relief will indeed make it easier for small hometown Community Banks to raise capital, and as they raise more capital, they can turn it into more main street jobs, more Economic Growth, more homeownership opportunities for our constituents. In fact, passing this bill will immediately benefit Community Banks all across america, not the big banks, not wall street banks, as i have no doubt the Ranking Member will say in her remarks. But, again, it will be Community Banks that will benefit. If you dont believe me, ask them. Ask the independent Community Bankers of america and its 5,700 Community Bank members. As a matter of fact, the passage of this bill, mrs. Loves bill, has been an important, longstanding goal of the independent Community Bankers of america because they have been suffering and suffocated by an avalanche of red tape with massive increases in regulate burdens which is caused has caused consolidation with much, much larger competitors. Because of the increased regulation and compliance costs, again, many of them have found it difficult to access and raise capital. This is the capital that is needed to capitalize our Small Businesses. Small businesses are struggling for access to credit, and the incredible regulate burden placed on homebuyers has simply complicated the buying process. And these higher costs are being felt at the same time that paychecks are now beginning to grow for working families, thanks to the tax cut and jobs act. But dont take my word for it, mr. Speaker. Lets listen to just one Community Banker who happens to be from west virginia. And they wrote in and said, quote, what no one in a position of power seems to realize is that many customers in our country prefer to deal with a smaller hometown institution with people they know and trust. If a customer has a question about their loan or their deposit, they simply pick up the phone and call or drop by. If we dont know the answer we find out and we let them know as soon as possible. But it appears that congress and the administration are attempting to get rid of smaller institutions so there are a lot fewer institutions to deal with and those are the to e ones who are too big fail, and, mr. Speaker, thats what happened under the doddfrank act. Continuing to quote. Please remember that small Financial Institutions and Small Businesses are the heart of america. The American Dream is to work hard, learn, and make a good life for yourself and your family. In the meantime, it includes working in your community or neighborhood to help others out. Even as a Small Institution as ours, we sponsor Little League baseball teams, soccer teams, the county junior fair and many other activities. We realize if we dont support small will call business, they soon wont be here. Those words could have been written by any small Financial Institution in america, mr. Speaker, and they ring so true. In order to keep our small communities alive, we have to keep their Small Businesses alye and must keep their small banks alive. So again, it is so important that we enact h. R. 4771, that we reduce this red tape on our Community Financial institutions, i thank the gentlelady from utah for introducing the legislation, i reserve the balance of my time. The speaker pro tempore the gentleman reserves. The gentlewoman from kale is recognized. Ms. Waters thank you. I yield myself such time as i may consume. The speaker the gentlewoman is recognized. Ms. Waters i rise in opposition to h. R. 4771, the Small Bank Holding Company relief act of 2018. This bill is another republicanled measure to roll back appropriately tailored policies to regulate the Financial Services sector that ignores the hardlearned essence of the catastrophic 2008 financial crisis. Weve seen this same flawed approach in h. R. 10, which i call the wrong choice act, last year, and were seeing it again in the senate as it considers advancing senator crapos wall street giveaway, which includes a provision identical to the bill that were considering today, along with several other harmful provisions. The Federal Reserve Small Bank Holding Company policy statement was first issued in 1980 to enable the transfer of ownership of small Community Banks by allowing small, noncomplex Bank Holding Companies to operate with higher levels of debt that would normally than would normally be permit the original policy statement established a threshold of bank holing companies with less than 150 million in assets. But this level was increased to 500 million in 2006. The policy statement allows certain small Bank Holding Companies and savings and loan Holding Companies to hold more debt at the Holding Company level than would otherwise be allowed by Capital Requirements. If the debt is used to finance up to 75 of an acquisition of another bank. Put another way, the policy statement is important because it allows Small Institutions like Community Banks and minorityowned insured depository institutions to access Additional Debt so they can continue serving their communities without compromising bank safety and soundness. Thus it is important that the threshold level be carefully calibrate sod it cannot be abused by speculative investors. If the threshshold raised too high, it will encourage more mergers and acquisitions, riskier banking activities and reduced Banking Services and Credit Availability to rural, lowincome, minority and underserved communities. 2014 democrats worked with republicans to examine this threshold and reached a reasonable compromise to raise the threshold to 1 billion. This change was implemented only after closely consulting with regulators to determine the appropriate threshold level to help Community Banks grow without making them targets. For mergers and acquisitions. The 1 billion threshold is sensible and reasonable and in light of the federal deposit insurance corporations exhaustive study several years ago on the definition of Community Bank. While the fdic factors in other considerations, their definition of a Community Bank includes a dollar threshold of banks with less than 1 billion in assets. According to 2016 data, from the Federal Reserve, 87 of all Bank Holding Companies are covered by the current 1 billion threshold. A large majority of the industry currently benefited from the 014 adjusted increase in the policy statement, including all truly small Community Banks. Furthermore, it is worth highlighting that the bipartisan compromise reached in 2014 included other important safe forwards such as exclude anything Bank Holding Companies and savings and loan Holding Companies with less than 1 billion that are engaged in significant nonbanking activities. It also gives the Federal Reserve the ability to exclude any Bank Holding Companies and savings and loan Holding Companies from the policy statement regardless of size if it concludes that the exclusion is warranted for supervisory purposes. But my colleagues on the other side of the aisle have not hesitated to try and push the threshold higher. Last congress, just a little more than a year after a bipartisan compromise to increase the threshold republicans pushed through the house another bill, h. R. 3791, that would have significantly increased the threshold from 1 billion to 5 billion. That bill faced a veto threat from the obama administration, as it should have, and it went nowhere in the senate. Then last year, chairman hensarling included a provision in h. R. 10, the wrong choice act, to drastically raise the 1 billion threshold to 10 billion. And because the senate now appears set to move a bill that raises the threshold but no nowhere near that level, we now find ourselves become on the floor of the house today, considering a new bill to trip they will threshold from 1 billion to 3 billion. While it is slightly less drastic increase than the one in the bill republicans pushed through the house last congress, triple the policy statement threshold to 3 billion so soon since the last threshold increase is still un